I'll be at the first two practices as usual, taking notes. Unfortunately, since I drive there from Frederick, Md, I can't have a beer with anyone, but if anyone wants to hook up at the practice, I'll be there.

Logged

"Fanatics are picturesque. Mankind would rather see gestures than listen to reason." - Friederich Nietzsche

I'll be at the first two practices as usual, taking notes. Unfortunately, since I drive there from Frederick, Md, I can't have a beer with anyone, but if anyone wants to hook up at the practice, I'll be there.

I'll be at the first two practices as usual, taking notes. Unfortunately, since I drive there from Frederick, Md, I can't have a beer with anyone, but if anyone wants to hook up at the practice, I'll be there.

Hey SDW, can we some farking detailed info this year? We are tired of your high level whimsical and generally aloof camp posts.

Logged

Looks like you've been missing a lot of work lately. I wouldn't say I've been *missing* it, Bob.

I don't understand why all of yinz are so interested in trainiing camp.

Wouldn't it be more exciting to get together for a Pirate game? They're on a potential record-breaking streak, after all.

Logged

"Dreith said I hit Sipe too hard. I hit him as hard as I could. Brian has a chance to go out of bounds and he decides not to. He knows I'm going to hit him. And I do. History."- - - Jack Lambert, after referee Ben Dreith ejected him from a game for knocking out Browns QB Brian Sipe.

Meanwhile, we at Steeler Nation and elsewhere have been dealing with the Silly Season; the marriage of mob psychology, insufficient information, poor long term memory, runaway optimism (or pessimism) and absolutely no perspective.

These are a few of my favorite things ...

Logged

"I like David Bowie, he was always my favorite member of Tin Machine."- Rodney Anonymous

About six weeks ago I offered some opinions on why I thought that the Steelers might have a shot at that seventh Lombardi this year.

Stopped reading right thur.

Signed,

AJ "Downer" Law

Seriously though, I just don't see it.

Can the Steelers survive the early season loss of Ben?<

It's kinda funny to read this sort of stuff. You can't have it both ways, folks. People constantly talk about including Ben on the short "elite" list of NFL QBs. At his best, I believe that he belongs there too. That said, you can't take somebody of that ability level and sideline him for a quarter of the season and not expect it to have an adverse impact. IMO, his write up really dismisses BR's importance to this team's success. If he's so great, his production and leadership shouldn't be easy to replace, right? Or, if it is, and a QB controversy is created by Week 5, then I guess he isn't? Which is it? I just want to be sure I've got it down.

It's no secret. This is a QB driven league. And, I'm firmly in the "#7 is a top 5 QB" camp. Without him, this squad will be fortunate to finish that four game (God help them if it's 6) stretch at 1-3. Maybe they can scratch out a .500 record as a dome team has to go to Pittsburgh for the opener. Maybe.

After that? Well, Ben will have an extra week to get up to speed because of the bye; two, if you want to count Cleveland the following week. IMO, that's a tall fucking order. I also think it goes doubly for him as he doesn't have a rep for being a "first in, last out" guy. So, he's gonna have an abbreviated camp participation, be completely detached for a month and change after that and then be able to just step on the practice field in early October and not miss a beat? Whoa.

Nevermind the fact that proven WR depth is scary thin; the OL is still shit (I though it was 2010...just had a 2004 flashback...) even with the big assed Adams bandaid; the defense should still be pretty good provided everyone stays healthy, but they are another year older; and, what exactly has been done to try to fix the every-other-week special teams hemorrhagging?

And finally, it's going to take a damn good juggling act through camp (and the preseason?...I can't remember if Ben is allowed to participate in preseason stuff ATM) on Tomlin's part to sufficiently prep BFL to start for those first four games while giving #7 some meaningful snaps so he's not too rusty in Week 5 and oh yeah, continue to try to develop DD too.